Urgent: Community Action Required
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Andrada Holding, LLC (previously W.R. Henderson Company) recently submitted a Mining Pn of Operations (MPO) to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The MPO detailed Andrada Holding's intention to expand from their current operations to begin blasting and quarrying operations on 14 acres of State Trust Land. Because the subsurface rights on this lease remain in federal control, the BLM has been the pint of contact for this proposed mining operation.
Now the BLM has completed an Environmental Assessment and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). In a nutshell, this indicates that the BLM feels that the Andrada Holding's expansion will have no significant impact that cannot be mitigated. The Empire-Fagan Coalition feels otherwise, and points to the following points:
[1] The MPO has inaccuracies and is incomplete.
[2] W.R. Henderson has an established and well-documented pattern of disinterest, lack of engagement, and dishonesty with the surrounding community. This renders any mitigation and/or reclamation commitments within the MPO null and irrelevant.
[3] W.R. Henderson has a history of air quality and other violations. We cannot believe that they will suddenly change their modus operandi.
W.R. Henderson Quarry Makes a Bid to Resume | |
The W.R. Henderson Quarry, also known as the Old Andrada Quarry (located at Wentworth & Sahuarita Roads), has morphed once more. Once it was The W.R. Henderson Company, buying up almost all of the land in Section 21 around the Copper Cut area. Then, teaming with the local company Lamb Rock, Inc., the old quarry site changed into an aggregate operation, sorting and crushing existing piles of rock for sale. Now with a new name (Andrada Holdings, LLC) and a new 640-acre lease (thank you, State Land Department), they are again talking about active quarrying of limestone. This is not an aggregate operation on existing land: it is a major expansion of the site, and includes water drawdown issues, blasting, and increased dust and noise pollution. The company has submitted a Mining Plan of Operations (MPO) to the BLM in order to quarry on these lands, which are split estate (the BLM retains subsurface rights, the State of Arizona retains the surface). This action comes six years after Henderson's original federal mining plan of operations and reclamation plan (on Federal lands, submitted through the BLM) were remanded to the Tucson BLM from Washington D.C. due to lack of completeness and inaccuracies.
Please stay tuned, as we will soon enter a public commenting period regarding the new MPO. |
Many residents of our community are complacent regarding the proposed quarries and mines, thinking that they will remain unaffected if the quarries and mines become a reality. However, is this true for you?
EFC now has an Impact Utility, based on assumptions of impacts that are drawn from the mining companies' own documents. Is your complacency warranted?
